Health and Welfare of Captive Reptiles

'The narratives are well written and sufficiently user-friendly to be read by almost anyone who raises reptiles. The book will be particularly useful for vertebrate zoologists, veterinarians, reptile breeders, and zoo keepers.' Choice 'This book is a welcome addition to the steadily increasing library of herpetological literature ... an impressive international group of contributors are to be found within.' The Veterinary Record 'The editors are acknowledged experts in this field, and a great deal of care has gone into the production of this book, involving 17 contributors in addition to the editors.' CAB International, Veterinary Bulletin 'This book is an interesting early examination of the animal welfare aspects of working with reptiles in captivity and also in nature.' The Herpetological Journal 'To review such a packed volume is difficult indeed, in order to give the correct credence to its excellence ... a most important step forward in the cataloguing of existing knowledge on the subject ... essential reading for all workers in the field ...' UWAF

• Introduction: Health and welfare of captive reptiles.- 1 Physiology and functional anatomy.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Body temperature, energetics and ectothermy.- 1.3 Light and photoreception.- 1.4 Water exchange and humidity.- 1.5 Digestive physiology and nutrition.- 1.6 Respiration and circulation.- 1.7 Pain and stress.- 1.8 Conclusion.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 2 Biology of stress: interactions with reproduction, immunology and intermediary metabolism.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Reproduction.- 2.3 Immunity.- 2.4 Corticosteroids, intermediary metabolism and growth.- 2.5 Implications for captive husbandry of reptiles and future research.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 3 Nutritional considerations.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Provision of an adequate water supply.- 3.3 Selection of food.- 3.4 Apprehension of prey and gathering of fodder.- 3.5 Initial processing.- 3.6 Assimilation.- 3.7 Elimination.- 3.8 Miscellaneous factors and their effects on nutrition.- 3.9 Concluding remarks.- References and further reading.- 4 Veterinary perspectives and techniques in husbandry and research.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Captive reptiles.- 4.3 Free-living reptiles.- 4.4 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References and recommended reading.- 5 Naturalistic versus clinical environments in husbandry and research.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Context: Welfare in husbandry and research.- 5.3 Terminology for wild and captive reptile environments.- 5.4 Naturalistic versus clinical environments.- 5.5 Conclusions.- 5.6 Recommendations.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 6 Normal behaviour.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Maintenance behaviours.- 6.3 Distance-reducing behaviour.- 6.4 Agonistic behaviour.- 6.5 Conclusions.- References.- 7 Effects of ontogenetic processes and rearing conditions.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 The prenatal period.- 7.3 Parental care.- 7.4 Handling and novel environments.- 7.5 Cage size and structure.- 7.6 Social arrangements.- 7.7 Feeding.- 7.8 Defensive behaviour.- 7.9 Long-term influence of captive regimes.- 7.10 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 8 Behavioural consequences of husbandry manipulations: indicators of arousal, quiescence and environmental awareness.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Cage cleaning and exploratory behaviour.- 8.3 Use of familiar artificial chemical cues.- 8.4 Chemical recognition of self.- 8.5 Sensitivity to spatial considerations.- 8.6 General discussion.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 9 Psychological and behavioural principles and problems.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Living wild and noticing captivity.- 9.3 Recognizing and interpreting signs of psychological and ethological well-being and poor welfare.- 9.4 Specific psychological and ethological problems.- 9.5 General considerations.- 9.6 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 10 Ethologically informed design in husbandry and research.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Ethologically informed design.- 10.3 Case studies: ethologically integrated designs.- 10.4 Recommendations and conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 11 Miscellaneous factors affecting health and welfare.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Stress, pain and sensitivity.- 11.3 Thermal factors, thermoregulation and light.- 11.4 Growth.- 11.5 Electromagnetism in the artificial environment.- 11.6 Reintroductions to nature.- 11.7 Euthanasia and killing.- 11.8 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.